Girlfriends
by btvscharmedgirl
Summary: Sequel to More Than Friends. 3 Story in my Hosie's Journey series. Relationships are forever changed after the events of More Than Friends.


I wake to find Josie still in bed with me, lightly snoring. The sun is streaming into my room through my slightly open curtains, casting a beautiful glow over her. I sweep aside her hair, which has fallen across her face, tucking it behind her ear. Today we need talk about our mutual admissions last night, but for now, I am content with watching her sleep. It may be the last innocent moments I can have before our relationship changes forever.

She stirs, rolling away from me to face the wall with closets windows. I take this moment to crawl out of bed. I need a few minutes to myself before we start our day. I sit at my desk to write in my journal, a habit I picked up after dealing with the Necromancer. I never saw the point in it before, but since then, I've found it therapeutic.

There, lying atop my journal is a telltale note from Alaric. So, he knows I'm no longer in the forest. That must mean he knows his daughter is here in my room instead of her own, where she was grounded to last night.

He's summoned me to his office and has made it clear that Josie is not to accompany me. I tear out a page of my notebook and leave a note lying on the bed for Josie. I don't want her to wake up to find me missing with no explanation. I tell her I'm fine, and I promise to bring breakfast when I return.

He's sitting at his desk, with Emma sitting in one of the two chairs in front. He doesn't speak, choosing to gesture instead. I sit, not allowing them to see how anxious I am. Our relationship has changed, he just doesn't know it yet. I'm not just his student anymore, not that we ever were just that. It's different now though. I'm just not sure how different it is.

I avoid looking at Emma as I sit. I'm angry with her for telling Alaric the private things I've shared with her. She had no right to tell him anything about me. She seems to notice my angry disposition and looks towards Alaric instead of me.

"Are you feeling better?" He asks me. His voice has a fatherly tone to it, like he cares. I know he does, but there's also an angry edge to it.

"I'm feeling fine now," I tell him.

He sits forward and a stern look crosses his features. "Then please explain to me what the hell happened?"

"I would think it was obvious," I say, the anger I feel towards Emma coming to the surface. "I lost control, and that's on me, but you already know why. Josie overheard you talking. She heard everything Emma told you."

"I had no choice, Hope," Emma says.

I feel the anger rise. I know by the look on Alaric's face that my eyes have shifted. He looks afraid, and I can see his arm moving under the desk's surface. "I'm fine," I growl at him, then I look to Emma. "You did have a choice. You could have waited it out. Waited for me to come back, instead you chose to violate my trust, and I'm pretty sure a couple of laws too."

"You put the lives of everybody in this school at risk, and Dr. Saltzman needed to know why."

"And I would have told him myself if given the chance," I roar standing up. "You didn't give me that chance. You told him yourself, and you couldn't even bother to make sure you were cloaked. Thank god it was Josie who overheard you and not someone else."

"I'm sor..."

"Don't," I say interrupting her. I don't want to hear her apology. I put my trust in her, something I don't give lightly, and despite her betrayal being the reason Josie was able to reach my human side, allowing my wolf to relinquish control, that betrayal hurts. "I don't want to hear your apology."

I sit back down and look to Alaric. "Please just leave. I'd like to speak to the headmaster alone."

Alaric looks at Emma and nods his head slightly. I hear her sigh before she shuffles out of the room. I let out a soft breath of air, releasing some of the anger that still lingers. He stands and comes around to take Emma's vacant seat. He takes my hand without hesitation, an odd gesture for him. We don't have a touchy feel, mentor mentee relationship. There have only been a few times in my life when he's crossed that line.

"I understand why you're angry at Emma, but she was acting in your best interest. Doing what she thought was right at that moment. Please don't push her away for too long."

"You know me better than that," I tell him.

"I do, which is why I'm telling you this, Hope. You, more than anyone else in this school need her in your life."

"No, I don't. I have Josie, and MG, and even Penelope. You wanted me to get out more and I did. I have them now. I trust them. Emma broke that trust."

"Therapy is mandatory, Hope," Alaric said. "Especially for you. If you refuse to see Emma, then we are going to have to come up with an alternative."

"Then I guess you'll have to figure it out, because I refuse to talk to her," I declare firmly, leaving no room for further arguments.

"Fine," he sighs. I know I'm being difficult, but I don't really care at the moment. I don't give my trust easily. People let me down when I do, but I did put my trust in her. Guess she just proved me right. "You might not like the solution I come up with, though."

"It still won't make me see Emma again," I warn, just in case he decides to do something that he knows I will hate, just to make me change my mind. It won't work.

"Then how about you tell me in your own words what happened," he insists.

That is something I can do. "I wasn't entirely honest with you about the night I hurt Josie." His eyes widen briefly then narrow in anger. "I healed her, so she was alright. I didn't see the point of telling you how badly I injured her."

"Then how about you explain it now," he warns.

"It wasn't just a cut on her back. She punctured a lung. If I didn't have vampire blood, she probably wouldn't have made it." I continue talking quickly, before he has the chance to say anything. "I've been afraid of something happening like that again, so I haven't shifted since that night. My wolf side has been calling for me to change, but I resisted, until it took control. Until I lost control."

I look down at my hands. I don't want to see the disappointed look in his eyes. I won't ever tell him this, but it hurts when he's disappointed in me. A lot. Just like it did when Mom or Aunt Freya were upset with me.

What I didn't expect was for him to lay his hand on my knee and give it a comforting squeeze. Two unusual gestures in less than ten minutes. I look up at him, and I'm surprised to see he isn't wearing his disappointed dad look. He kind of looks relieved actually.

"Next time, just come to me," he says. I can hear the relief in his voice. "There is no reason for you to have to suffer alone. I'm here for you. No matter what."

He's told me this before. Several times in fact. This time seems different though. More meaningful. Maybe our relationship had changed, and it had nothing to do with Josie and our potential relationship and everything to do with him and I.

I hesitantly place my hand over the one still on my knee and smile softly at him. He takes his hand back and sits up straight.

"What is the likelihood of this happening again?" he asks.

"Not likely," I reply honestly. "I won't give my wolf the chance to take over like that again. I'll shift regularly, even if I have to be locked up in a transition space."

"I think we both know that will only aggravate you after a while." He stood up and went back to his seat. "Is my daughter safe with you?" he asks, and I get the feeling he's not just talking about when I shift.

"Yes," I say with confidence. "You don't have to worry about her."

"Good," he says. "You should go have breakfast. I've given your teachers heads up on what happened. Your missed assignments should already be in your inbox. Make sure you have everything completed by Monday."

I leave quickly. All I want to do is get breakfast and get back to Josie. Thankfully there weren't many people in the dinning hall to hold me up. I was through the line and heading back to my room before I knew it.

Josie was still asleep, which surprised me. She was usually an early riser, often times waking long before me. Today though I got to serve her breakfast in bed. If we are going to change our friendship status to relationship, then I'm off to a good start.

I set the tray on my desk, and then slid back into bed. She instantly seems to know I'm back, because she rolls over and cuddles into me. I lean down and drop a lingering kiss on her forehead. She smiles and shifts. I kiss her again, just for the hell of it.

She sighs softly as she wakes, then looks up at me with a sleepy and very adorable look. "Morning," she says, her voice still heavy from sleep. She shifts until her head is lying on my breast, with her arms wrapped round me. We've cuddled like this before but this time is different. I can relax now that she knows I have feelings for her. I can enjoy it more.

"Mm," she hums. "You brought breakfast."

"Yeah. I've been up for a while. Your dad wanted to see me, so I've been there, and I grab us breakfast on my way back."

She looks up at me with a fearful look. "It's okay," I assure her. "He's not mad. He's a little annoyed that I refuse to talk to Emma, but he's not mad."

"How are you feeling?"

"Okay. Better now that I'm with you."

She blushes lightly and buries her head in chest. "I guess we should talk."

"We should," I agree, then slip out from beneath her. "But first we should eat. I brought all your favorites. I even got us milkshakes."

She sits up with a big smile. "Mint?"

"Mint for you," I say and hand her the green milkshake. "And strawberry for me." I sit down next to her and rest the tray on my lap.

"Are you sure Dad's not mad?"

"He knows you're here, and he didn't say anything about it."

"He's probably going to wait until I head back to my room to yell at me."

I chuckle, "I don't think so. I think he was just relieved that I was back to my normal self."

She smiled widely at me. "I'm glad you're back to your normal self too. As cute as you are as a wolf, it's nice to be able to talk to you." She took a bite of a piece of honeydew and juice ran down her chin. I reach out and brush away the juice before she has a chance to.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" The words are out of my mouth before I even comprehend what I was saying. She looks at me surprised, which quickly change to a big smile.

"Yeah," she says. I go to kiss her at the same time she leans forward, meeting somewhere in the middle. Her lips are soft and hungry. She kisses me feverishly, as though she had been dying to this for months. She probably has been. I know I sure have.

Josie moves to straddle my hips, forgetting that the tray is already there. It slips from my lap and falls to the floor with a loud clatter. She springs away at the sound, wearing the cutest look. It's somewhere between shock and embarrassment. I chuckle and pull her back down. "We'll get it later," I say, which causes her to smile. She captures my lips again, this time gentler. She lays her body against mine, so nearly every inch of her is touching me. We lay kissing until she runs out of breath.

She props herself up with one arm but keeps her body where it is. "I've been wanting to do that for a while."

"How long's a while?" I ask curiously.

"Longer than we've officially been friends," she admits shyly.

"Oh," I say. I didn't think she had feelings for me since before we became friends.

She looks at me with uncertainty written on her face, so I elaborate, "I'm just shocked. I didn't think you thought about me until recently."

She bit her lip. "I've had a crush on you since I was like twelve."

"Oh. Oh. Wow."

"I didn't think you would reciprocate," she says. "I know we're in the same grade, but you are two years older than me. I wasn't ready to put it out there."

"And I was clueless," I say, because I was. I didn't notice her outside of class. Well, I didn't really notice anyone outside of class. I was still stuck with my mom's surname instead of mine. Forced to hide who I was from everyone. It was better if I just stayed away from people. "I'm glad you told me."

"I'm just glad I was able to reach you," she says, then gets a serious look on her face. "You don't have to hide anything from me Hope. I'm here if you need to talk or if you just wanna cuddle."

I smile at her. This isn't the first time I heard this from her, but it is the first time that I feel like I can be honest with her. I know now that I don't have to hide away. It's a nice feeling.

Instead of responding with words, I lean forward and capture her lips in a kiss. She responds to the kiss immediately, pulling me as close to her body as possible.

We stayed in bed for the rest of the morning, only getting out to take care of needs and to grab snacks and drinks from my mini-fridge. She pulled me in for a kiss every few minutes, then chuckle and blush. It brings a smile to my lips every time. She's happy, which makes me happy.

It's the first time in my life where I feel content. The simple joy on being with Josie and knowing where we both stand calms me. I know our journey has just begun, but I already know that my relationship is going to be epic love, just like my mother wanted. After all, our story so far has been an epic one.


End file.
